Costumes made/modeled by Yaya between 1999 - now.

Gothic Princess - Nene Thomas Artwork

Why I chose to make this costume:

My friend Nene Thomas created this beautiful painting named "Gothic Princess", as well as a sister piece, "Angelic Princess". To my delight, she chose me as the model for both and ever since I've seen the artworks, I have wanted to make one of those costumes. Gothic Princess really spoke to me, I loved the colors, jewelry and wing design.

How I made this costume:

I used a thick red brocade intended for home decor and set it off against a lightweight black brocade in a tighter matte pattern. The corset I made is strong enough to support the wings without me having to use any shoulder straps which was yay. I hand cut black venetian floral lace into the right width and shape and stitched them onto the corset as trim. I also sewed the creamy white floral trim onto the bottom hem according to the reference. Then I began hand-beading fire polished glass beads and white pearls all over the trims on the corset, the billowy sleeves which I patterned myself, and the skirt. I also hand made venetian lace gauntlets and spent quite a long while sewing scattered beads onto them. I think I love those the most!

I made the necklace by centering it around a red jewel, stringing many rows of black and fire polished beads together.

I made the black wings out of turkey and coque feathers - originally I thought about doing fabric style bat wings, but the feathers gave them so much more texture and created the tattered effect beautifully.

The wig I used is a Naomi from New Look which I styled/cut. For the studio photos I used a Scarlett, which also worked beautifully!

I created the headpiece by butchering two fabric roses and combining them into one big flower, and adding multiple strands of hand-beaded pearls. The feathers are pheasant. They are one of the signature elements of Nene's paintings, and one of my favorites.

Thoughts on this costume:

This is the second Nene Thomas costume I've made and I love this one as much as Midnight Wings! It was a lot of fun to work on this costume - the details, accessories, wings etc. - thanks to Nene's amazing costume design abilities!

I felt so honored when she based Gothic Princess after me, that I really wanted to do the painting justice with the costume. She told me that I likes it so yay! *_*

About Yaya

Yaya Han® is one of only few cosplayers in the world to build a business in this hobby-ist community, but even after a decade of success, she strives to stay true to what got her into this field originally - fun and creativity. To this day, Yaya has made a myriad of costumes in the genres of anime, manga, video games, sci-fi, comic books and of course from her own original designs. Her intricate and lavish creations have won awards and acclaim worldwide, and she has been invited to appear as a Guest, Panelist, Judge, Performer and Host to hundreds conventions and other events all over the globe.